


Alarm Bells

by hwangjanim



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, changbin wears pink, enemies to lovers ? kind of?, hyunjin is in big denial, hyunjin really cant cook
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2020-08-20 20:48:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20234131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hwangjanim/pseuds/hwangjanim
Summary: Maybe if Hwang Hyunjin hadn’t accidentally set off the fire alarm on a Sunday morning, he never would have met Seo Changbin.Or he would have just met him later that day, when he found him shirtless in his kitchen.





	1. Bad Eggs

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mina xo](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=mina+xo).

> (If you haven't read any of my other stuff, please feel free to skip this AN!)
> 
> Hello homies, 
> 
> This note actually has nothing to do with this specific fic, it's more of an explanation/apology re: my other ones. I know I haven't updated in a really long time and I feel kind of awful about it, so I wanted to say I'm really sorry to everyone who wrote me such kind, encouraging comments! Life has gotten away from me a bit for the past year and I haven't had the time or the motivation to add to those fics, but I will be going back to writing more now that I have sorted out most of the things that kept me from writing. I have a whole bunch of stuff in progress, and for those that are interested, I will be continuing the Dreamies fic! I'm not sure whether to keep the YuKi fic I have up since I'm not sure whether I'll continue that, but I'll ponder a bit longer. Please do feel free to let me know whether you'd want me to continue it in the comments (if you've read it ofc), and once again: I am sorry for abandoning the works.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this new work and the ones in progress that I will start posting over the next month or so! Please let me know how you like it as it goes along! Enjoy xo 
> 
> P.S. I promise I won't abandon these for a year because I'm super mega excited about all of them!

“HYUNJIN YOU CAN’T LEAVE EGGS ON THE STOVE AND GO TAKE A DAMN SHOWER!!!”

“OKAY, WELL I DIDN’T KNOW THAT, FUCKING _SUE_ ME!!!”

Even through the overwhelming amount of smoke that filled their small kitchen, Hyunjin could tell Felix was frowning at him. In an attempt to ignore it, he grabbed a takeout menu that had been slipped under their door weeks ago and began waving the smoke away in an attempt to avoid setting off the fire alarm. 

It did not work. 

Ten minutes later, Hyunjin was outside, shivering in the cold of the crisp autumn morning and cursing himself for not just having a bowl of Froot Loops for breakfast. 

“I just want to know what the fuck possessed you to attempt cooking for the first time at 7 a.m. on a Sunday?” Felix grumbled, his voice raspy with sleep. Unlike Hyunjin, he was comfortably wrapped in a hoodie, a few strands of mussed hair sticking out from under the hood. 

“I was hungry,” Hyunjin mumbled back, trying to stop his teeth from chattering. 

“Yeah, well, look where that got us,” Felix gestured at the dozens of exhausted looking students who were making their way to the dorms’ fire assembly checkpoint while stifling a yawn, “Since when do you wake up before 11 a.m. on the weekend? Or ever?” 

“_So You Think You Can Dance_ finals are live in like,” Hyunjin looked at his watch, “4 hours and I have 4 episodes to catch up with so _you_ do the math.” 

Felix rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Stop_ talking_ about it, you’ll start a witch hunt.”

“Whoever the hell is responsible for this,” Hyunjin heard a sleep laced voice speak behind him, “I hope they know that I will murder them in their sleep.” 

Hyunjin turned around, curious to see who was indirectly threatening him with death and found himself looking at a dark haired boy in a giant, fluffy, pink sweater leaning sleepily on a slightly taller boy who’d clearly grabbed a denim jacket in a hurry to get out and was now regretting it as he shivered in the cool wind. Both the boys were at least three inches shorter than him, if not more, and he found himself chuckling at the image of the pink clad boy attempting to kill him in any state. 

“I’d like to see you try,” Hyunjin mumbled to himself, his lips stretching into a self-satisfied smirk.

It only lasted until Pink Boy lifted his head off his friend’s shoulder and looked right at him.

“What did you just say?”

Okay, maybe Pink Boy _could_ take him. Now that Hyunjin was facing him front to front, he realised that the pink sweater was only giant because the body under it was too. 

But he was just so… _cute_.

Hyunjin decided he could take him after all . 

“I said,” he begins to repeat himself, “I’d like to see you try.”

“Try what?” 

“To murder me in my sleep. I’m warning you, I’m a light sleeper and I have quick reflexes.”

Pink Boy frowned at him, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. 

“Are you saying _you_ did this?”

“Yeah, and? It was an accident, it could’ve happened to anyone.” 

“But it didn’t, it happened to you and now we all have to stand out here in the cold at the ass crack of dawn on a _Sunday_ because you can’t take your blunts outside!”

“Changbin,” Pink Boy’s friend places a hand on his arm and Hyunjin considers renaming Pink Boy Changbin in his head. He decides against it. 

“I don’t smoke, I was making eggs.”

“You set your EGGS on FIRE? No,” Changbin looked over at his friend, "Chan, he _has_ to be kidding, who sets _eggs_ on fire?” 

“Hyunjin does.”

Hyunjin shot Felix a glare.

“It was an _accident_.”

Pink Boy kept glaring, his arms now crossed over his chest as his friend kept a calming hand on his shoulder. 

“It’s alright, it was just an accident Changbin. Leave it alone.” 

“You have to be real dumb for that accident to happen,” Pink Boy mumbled, prompting Hyunjin to frown. 

“Okay, no need for name calling, it’s 20 minutes out of your day and it wasn’t intentional. Calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down —“ 

“Guys,” a boy with dark blue dyed hair suddenly appeared next to Hyunjin, dressed in a giant black hoodie. His hair was mussed and he looked tired, but at least he didn’t seem to be as feral as Pink Boy.

“We’re free to go back in, they checked everything out. Apparently it wasn’t even a full flame.”

“Yeah, we’ve figured out it was just this idiot,” Pink Boy gestured towards Hyunjin, receiving a disgusted grimace in response as the newcomer turned to face him. 

“Cooking mishap?” Hyunjin was grateful for the kind tone in the boy’s voice as he gave a simple nod. The boy smiled in response.

“We’ve all been there, don’t worry about it too much.” 

“Don’t enable him, Jisung.” 

“Okay, enough,” the boy Hyunjin believed was referred to as Chan a few minutes prior placed a hand on both the other boys’ shoulders, “We’re heading back in. Maybe if Changbin gets a nap in he won’t be as grumpy.”

“I’m not grumpy.”

Hyunjin made eye contact with Changbin and thanked the universe for not giving looks the power to kill as Chan pulled the boy in the direction of the building, turning him away from Hyunjin before glancing back and giving him an apologetic smile. 

“It was nice meeting you!” 

“No it wasn’t,” Hyunjin heard Changbin grumble and felt the corner of his mouth turn upwards into a smirk as he shook his head. 

*****

Sundays tended to suck, the impending doom of Monday always looming over everyone, but this Sunday was worse than usual. Aside from the fact that he’d managed to get a death threat and several dirty looks before 10 am, Hyunjin had spent the day mourning the fact that his favourite did _not_ win _So You Think You Can Dance_ and rushing to meet a deadline he’d forgotten existed. 

Which is why Felix’s invitation to come out was _very_ unwelcome. 

“You haven’t been out in so long, you’re always at the studio,” his roommate whined as Hyunjin refused to look away from his computer screen, furiously typing away 2,500 words on perspective in renaissance art.

“You say that like you’re _not _always at the studio. Hypocritical,” Hyunjin mumbled, catching Felix’s eye roll from the corner of his eye and shaking his head in response before adding a full stop to a paragraph and turning around to face his friend. 

“If I go out tonight, I will fail. There are a lot of things I want to do, Felix. Bungee jumping, inter railing, skydiving, zip lining, I could go on. Failing my second year of university is _not_ on that list.” 

“Can you add it?” 

_“NO.”_

Felix groaned. 

“Fine, I’ll go with Jeongin, but if he gets me overwhelmingly drunk and I bring someone home, you’re not allowed to complain.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” 

Hyunjin continued typing, expecting Felix to make his way out of his room, but the boy lingered. Another sigh and another full stop typed at the end of a sentence, and Hyunjin turned around to face him again.

“Felix.”

“Hmm?”

“Do you have something to say?” 

Silence. 

“Felix?”

_“Please?”_

“I’ll go next time.”

Felix narrowed his eyes.

“I don’t want to doubt your integrity, but I do, so I’m going to need you to pinky swear.” 

Hyunjin immediately extended a pinky, watching Felix’s narrowed eyes relax into a smile. He couldn’t help smiling himself, shaking his head at how easy his friend was to please. They touched thumbs to seal the deal and Felix gave a satisfied nod. 

“I will hold you to that.” 

“You do that, Lix,” Hyunjin chuckled, “and have fun tonight! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” 

“I’ll take that advice, and just so you know,” Felix walked towards the door, turning around before opening it, “you’re still lame for the rain check.” 

As Hyunjin heard the door shut, he shoved a pair of noise-cancelling headphones over his ears, giving a final resigned groan before pressing shuffle on his study playlist and getting back to work. 

*****

The clock read 4:37 a.m. when Hyunjin finally pressed “Submit”, getting rid of the damned essay once and for all. With a relieved smile on his face, he stretched backwards in his chair, satisfied at his ability to finish a _phenomenal_ essay in under 10 hours. 

At least it seemed phenomenal in the daze of a sleepless night and several energy drinks. 

Either way, it was over with, and Hyunjin, personally, felt he deserved a reward, quickly deciding on treating himself to the gourmet hot chocolate his friend Seungmin had given him as a birthday gift. He spared a glance at his phone, reading the several texts from his friends that lit up the screen:

_**Seungmin, Local Genius:** Hope you didn’t leave the Renaissance essay till last minute! We still on for coffee after lecture tomorrow?_

_**Jeongin Babie:** Lix said you’re racing a deadline, good luck! _

_**Lee Minho (Dance):** booked studio for duet practice at 4 pm tomorrow_

_**Lee Minho (Dance):** 4 pm does NOT mean “read: 4:15” pls be on time_

_**Felix Felicis:** you’re missing out big time_

_**Felix Felicis:** hope ur essay was worth it_

_**Felix Felicis:** heading home w someone winky face sending this because I think sock on the door is dumb _

_**Felix Felicis:** do u want Macca’s, we’re getting drunk Macca’s_

_**Felix Felicis:** your loss, otw home now! _

With a sense of dread at the string of Felix’s texts, Hyunjin took off his headphones, feeling an immense sense of relief at the fact that the only sound he heard from Felix’s room was low-volume music, and assuming him and his hookup had fallen asleep with it playing in the background. Shaking the thought of his roommate’s sexcapades from his mind, he stood up, groaning at the feeling of his legs being straight after hours of sitting in his desk chair. 

As he headed for the door, he heard Felix’s open, and, assuming he’d run into his friend in the kitchen and get tonight’s update, made his way through the door anyway, taking purposely long steps towards the kitchen door in order to stretch his legs.

He swung the door open with an exaggeratedly extended hand, immediately launching into the familiar routine him and Felix had developed:

“So, baby, what’s the _haps_?” 

Hyunjin froze in place after his exclamation. There indeed was someone in the kitchen, but the shirtless, tanned, _excruciatingly broad_ back did not belong to Felix, and neither did the well trained arms and the pitch black mussed hair. 

This wasn’t Felix, this was Felix’s one night stand. 

As the barebacked figure turned around, Hyunjin found himself face to face with a familiar, now not-so-grumpy boy, whose wide shoulders were no longer covered in the pink fluff of the cold Sunday morning. 

He felt his stomach turn.

“You have _got_ to be kidding me.” 


	2. Second First Impressions

When Hyunjin told Felix not to do anything he wouldn’t do, he didn’t think Felix would find the loophole of doing _someone_ he wouldn’t do.

“What are you doing here?” 

“Getting water,” Changbin replied without so much as a surprised look on his face.

“I can see that.”

“Then why did you ask?”

Hyunjin stared in disbelief. Was this playful banter really coming from the guy who’d threatened him earlier that day and now knew where he slept? And did he not have water supply at his own house?

_And did he not own a shirt?_

“What are you doing getting water in _my_ kitchen?”

Changbin was drinking now, his eyes staring him down above the rim of his glass. Hyunjin ignored how delightfully uneasy the stare made him feel and crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for a response. The boy downed the rest of the water and placed the glass on the counter, letting out an exaggerated _“aaaah”_ of relief before speaking. 

“It’s just a lot simpler than going all the way back to my flat just for a glass of water, don’t you think? I live on the 10th floor you know, and this is 3rd. It’s a long way to go.”

Hyunjin felt a rage-filled heat begin to build up in the pit of his stomach. This guy was _something_ else.

“Why don’t you just go back to your flat and, I don’t know, not come back to a flat that isn’t yours?”

Hyunjin’s tone was abrasive. He didn’t care.

Changbin scoffed, _scoffed_, at the suggestion. 

“Well, because I’m staying with Felix. I wouldn’t want him to worry in the morning, would I?”

Hyunjin narrowed his eyes. 

“Is “staying with” a synonym for “fucking” now?”

Changbin raised an eyebrow.

“Watch your language.” 

Hyunjin swallowed the lump he hadn’t realised was lodged in his throat as he watched Changbin place his glass in the sink and make his way towards the door. Just as he thought he was rid of the unwelcome visitor _(because that was all Changbin was)_ for now, the boy turned around and made eye contact once again.

“You should relax,” Changbin had the hint of a smirk hiding in the corner of his lip as he pushed the kitchen door open, “Jealousy doesn’t suit you like those sweats do.”

Hyunjin looked down at the plain black sweats he was wearing, before his head jerked back up.

“I’m not jea—“

But the door was closed again, and Changbin was nowhere to be seen. 

*****

“—It’s like hooking up with my arch nemesis.”

“Didn’t you bicker with the guy one time at 7 am on a Sunday? I don’t know if that’s arch nemesis material.”

Hyunjin loved Seungmin.

Hyunjin also hated the fact that Seungmin was _constantly _the voice of reason. 

“He threatened to _kill_ me, Seungmin,” he argued in response, angrily grasping the metal straw sticking out of his iced latte between his lips and taking a decisive slurp without making eye contact with his friend.

“He didn’t actually —“

“Just let me have an arch nemesis, will you?” 

Seungmin raised both hands in surrender, and Hyunjin gave him a satisfied nod, watching his friend pick up the small metal spoon and stir his coffee with a knowing look. 

“What?” 

“If I didn’t know better, I’d almost say you have a crush on the guy.” 

A moment later, Seungmin was smacking Hyunjin’s back in an attempt to stop the shock induced choking that had taken over him. 

He was also laughing his ass off.

The moment Hyunjin managed to catch his breath, he practically hissed at his friend:

“I do _not_ have a crush on that goblin and how _dare_ you even imply such a thing? Delete my number from your phone.” 

“Who would I call for late night ice cream runs?” 

Hyunjin finally caught his breath and looked up at his friend with narrowed eyes. 

“You really can’t live without me, can you?” 

Seungmin gave him another smack on the back, although he was no longer choking and checked his watch, hurriedly reaching for his bag and cup of unfinished coffee. 

“I have to head to film studies. Catch you later?” 

Hyunjin frowned in confusion: “Film studies? You’re an art major.” 

Seungmin shrugged as he began heading for the door, “I’m sneaking in with a friend, they’re covering one of my favourite movies in lecture today.” 

“Which movie?” 

The bell that rang as Seungmin opened and promptly closed the caffé door with a wave perfectly punctuated his response: 

_“A Thin Line Between Love and Hate.” _

Hyunjin had to smack his own back that time around.

*****

“Hyunjin.”

“Yes?” 

“What makes you think I care about this?” 

Lee Minho’s raised eyebrow made Hyunjin frown as he refilled his cup with water and sulked over his dance partner shutting down the rant that had filled the fifteen minute break from practice. 

“I was just making small talk.”

Hyunjin didn’t think it was possible for Minho’s eyebrow to rise any higher, but the older boy proved him wrong, a hint of a smirk appearing on his face. 

“_This_ is your definition of small talk? Talking about some dude your roommate hooked up with for fifteen minutes?” 

Hyunjin avoided eye contact as he took tiny sips from his cup, trying to come up with a way to counter Minho’s point. He came up completely blank. 

“It hasn’t been that long,” he mumbled into his cup of water, unable to ignore Minho shoving his phone in his face, the numbers on the screen confirming that it had, indeed, been that long.

“I’m just _mad_ about it, okay? My best friend is fraternising with the enemy —“ 

“You call this guy your enemy, but the only thing you’ve talked about aside from the routine has been… Well, this guy.” 

“Well, he’s _annoying_ —“

“_You’re _annoying. Just ask him out or something and stop bugging me about it, we have work to do.”

Hyunjin was extremely grateful his mouth hadn’t been full of water that time because he was pretty sure Minho wouldn’t extend him the courtesy of smacking his back until he could breathe again. Not right now, anyway. 

“Ask him _out_? He’s literally the _worst_!”

All he got in response was an eye roll, as Minho grabbed his towel off the water cooler and headed for the practice room. Just as they reached the door, he placed his hand on the doorknob, prompting Hyunjin to almost bump right into him. 

“Listen, Hwang. You’re a nice guy, funny, a good dancer, chill to be around… I appreciate being paired with you for this assessment. But if I hear a word about your new enemy or crush or whatever the hell this Changbin guy is while we are in that studio, I will kick your ass to Mars, you understand me? Get it out of your system now, because once we go in there, it is a Changbin-free zone.” 

Hyunjin felt himself frown, the flurry of thoughts running through his head too chaotic to put into coherent words:

_"He’s NOT my crush and why does everyone keep saying that and I don’t talk about him as much as you claim I do and I absolutely do NOT want to talk about him in there anyway, he is annoying and cocky and I want nothing less than to discuss him at any point ever and as far as I’m concerned every part of my life is a Changbin-free zone so saying all that was so unnecessary and ouch, harsh?”_

“He’s not my crush,” Hyunjin selected from the messy train of thought and gave a somber nod as Minho nodded back and turned the doorknob. 

“Hyunjin?” he turned back for a second before opening the door.

“Yeah?”

“You’re an idiot.”

*****

Hyunjin heard the front door open and shut at half past ten, the sound a welcome distraction from the class notes that lay scattered on his desk.

“Hyunjin? You home?” 

“Room!” Hyunjin responded happily, glad to have an excuse to finally get up and stretch his legs without feeling like he was just procrastinating. 

Then he remembered he was _mad_ at Felix. 

Already standing right in front of his room door, he let out a sigh before turning the doorknob and opening it, careful not to make his facial expression resemble anything but indifference. He made his way into the kitchen. 

Felix was happily unpacking a bunch of grocery bags, chucking a bag of crisps Hyunjin's way when he noticed him entering the kitchen. 

In any other situation, Hyunjin would have caught the bag (or failed to) and the two would have laughed and shared stories about their day, the deck of cards constantly placed at the edge of the counter scattered across it.

But Hyunjin was mad, so he let the red crisp packet hit his torso and fall to the floor, prompting a confused glance from his friend as his expression remained unchanged.

“How’d you miss _that_? It was an easy throw.” 

Hyunjin narrowed his eyes at Felix, not saying a word. He bent down and picked up the packet, chucking it back at the startled boy and hitting him right in the shoulder. 

Felix’s eyebrows had now formed into a frown.

“What’s your problem?”

“I’m mad.”

“Care to explain _why_?!”

Hyunjin rolled his eyes. Was he _that_ clueless?

“You hooked up with a dude who explicitly _hates_ me.”

“What?” Felix frowned in confusion.

“Don’t play dumb, Lee. It doesn’t suit you.” 

“I genuinely don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Hyunjin groaned: “Changbin! Who else?”

To Hyunjin’s surprise, Felix burst out laughing, barely managing to catch his breath to respond to his accusation.

“Changbin and I didn’t sleep together. Where did you get that idea?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am currently travelling, hence the irregular updates, but I will hopefully be on a more regular upload schedule within this month!


	3. Ears On Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hyunjin's ears are burning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends! I am so very sorry for how long it’s taken me to get this up, but life got in the way the past few months as I’ve started my senior year of uni (it’s as scary as it sounds), and that comes with the hovering doom of a dissertation and master’s degree applications, which take up like 99.9% of my time, but now I’ve sorted out my schedule and gotten into more of a rhythm, I am back to keep my promise and FINISH this baby (as well as several others I have in the works eye emoji)!   
I’m so glad to see you’ve been enjoying it, and I hope it continues to live up to your expectations!  
Regarding the incident that happened that I really don’t want to address because I like living in denial and it makes me very sad to think about, but I also kind of have to since it affects my writing on here, I just want to say that I will continue writing OT9 in my fics and I don’t see that changing at any point. Although I fully respect the decision made, and will support our baby bear in whatever he chooses to do as long as he is healthy and happy, this story, and many others I have in the works, have always been intended for OT9, and I intend to keep it that way. That being said, I do understand that some of you may want to keep your distance from such content, so consider this a warning: if you get really sad or upset over mentions of Woojin or OT9 right now, please don’t read my fics. Your mental and emotional wellbeing comes first, always! You can always come back and read it when you feel ready, or find works on here or elsewhere that won’t upset you!  
Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter and remember to stay hydrated and smile today!

“Wait, what?” 

Felix was practically doubled over laughing by now.

Hyunjin just stared at his friend, confused and frankly, completely unamused. 

“Stop _laughing_!”

“I’m sorry,” Felix was now attempting to catch his breath and keep a straight face, unable to actually keep the short bursts of laughter from coming. 

Hyunjin folded his arms across his chest, frowning. 

“You don’t _seem_ sorry.” 

“Okay, no,” Felix raised a hand and took a deep breath, his smile vanishing from his lips, but still hiding in the corner of his eyes, “No, I’m here, I’m serious, I’m listening.”

Hyunjin raised an eyebrow.

“No, but seriously. Where did you get that idea?” 

“Uh, I don’t know, maybe him appearing in our kitchen the other nights like some… shirtless cryptid.” 

Felix snorted.

“Why is the shirtless factor so _relevant_ to you?” this time, it was Felix’s eyebrow raising. 

“Because I don’t, I don’t understand why, _why_ he would be _shirtless_ in _our_ kitchen, and then he made comments and he said—“

Felix was laughing again, shaking his head at how flustered his friend seemed, his laughter drowning out Hyunjin’s stuttered narration. 

“Stop _laughing_!” Hyunjin was feeling an extremely irritating sense of déjà vu. 

“I’m _sorry_, it’s just absolutely fucking hilarious to me that you think I slept with Changbin. And also that you’re so intrigued by his shirtlessness.”

“I’m _NOT_ “intrigued”,” Hyunjin aggressively formed air quotes with his fingers, "by _anything_ about him!”

“Do you wanna keep whining or do you want me to explain what happened?” 

Hyunjin paused, letting the metaphorical curious angel and stubborn devil discuss the options on their respective shoulders before giving a small nod. 

“Tell me.” 

“We went out —“

“I know that part.”

“Don’t interrupt me or I won’t tell you shit.” 

Hyunjin pressed his lips into a thin line. 

“Thank you. We went out and we ran into Changbin and his roommates, and did you _know_ that one of them is just _incredibly_ cute? Because he is. His name is Jisung, I don’t know if you remember meeting him on Sunday since you were too busy angrily ogling Changbin...“

“I was NOT —“

“SHH! Stop INTERRUPTING!” 

“Fine.” Hyunjin pulled out a bar stool and took a seat, leaning on the counter and folding his hands over his chest. 

“Anyways,” Felix shot him a warning glare before continuing, “Jisung is _cute_ and he is nice and he’s just really great at passing me shots. So their other roommate, Chan, he decided it was time for me to head home and because I couldn’t really, as the kids call it, walk, he said we’d all go together. So the six of us —“

“Six?” 

“Chan’s boyfriend was with us too. He was nice, really cool. You’d like him, his name is Woojin and he’s a senior, a music major. Real cool dude. Anyways, he called us 2 Ubers and we get in, as you do. Chan and Woojin adopted Jeongin on the spot and they took one car, so that left me with Jisung and Changbin. Your shirtless cryptid,” Hyunjin rolled his eyes at the remark, “sat in the front, Jisung and I sat in the back and did some _major_ flirting. Then drunk me decided he was hungry so —“

“You got McDonald’s,” Hyunjin finished.

Felix nodded, “Yes, and that’s when I texted you.”

“May I just say, props to drunk Felix for how coherent those texts were,” Hyunjin softly clapped as Felix bowed his head down with a satisfied smile on his face.

“Thank you for noticing. I’d like to thank my mum, my dad, my sisters and autocorrect. Couldn’t have done it without them,” Felix wiped an imaginary tear from the corner of his eye before continuing to speak. 

“So, we get McDonald’s and we’re heading home and it’s looking absolutely _fantastic_ for me and Jisung, but then he gets this phone call and he looks real serious and then he hangs up and adds a stop to our Uber trip and says he’s really sorry but something came up and he’s gonna have to leave me in Changbin’s hands…” 

Hyunjin shifted in his seat. 

“He gives me his phone and I somehow manage to put in my number correctly even though I’m seeing triple at this point, and he gives me a kiss on the cheek. On the cheek, Hyunjin. I almost lost my mind. I literally almost opened the door and jumped out of the car, I was _losing_ it. Anyways, I’m in the back losing my mind and I drift to sleep and the next thing I know, I’m being carried into the elevator by a very annoyed looking Changbin.”

Hyunjin swallows a lump that had unnoticeably formed in his throat.

“So he makes a Sleeping Beauty comment and puts me down and lets me lean on him until we get to the apartment and I let him in my room, and low and behold, I inadvertently throw up on him and pass out.” 

“You did _WHAT_?” Hyunjin felt his eyes widen.

“I threw up on him, Hyunjin. So, as I’m sure you can understand now, nothing remotely sexy happened that night,” Felix finished off, seemingly satisfied at his narration. 

“But that doesn’t explain why he was —“

“Shirtless? He took his shirt off to rinse it in the sink and I mean, you’ve seen the guy, there was no way he’d fit into anything of mine. You know, what you really should be doing is _thanking_ me.” 

“Wh—“

“Because without my projectile act, you never would have seen Changbin shirtless.” 

Hyunjin opened his mouth, with a distinct plan to very loudly argue against Felix’s implications, but before he managed to utter a single word, Felix interjected.

“You know for two people who claim to dislike each other, you sure talk about each other a lot.” 

“He talked about me?”

Felix made a zipping gesture across his lips and gave Hyunjin a wink, assuring him a sleepless night. 

***

There are one hundred and seventy eight wood panels on the ceiling of Hyunjin’s favourite campus coffee shop. One of them is slightly out of line and he is pondering reasons for it being out of place while stirring his coffee. He’s on reason number sixteen: whoever put those panels up there was evil and wanted to see everyone who paid close attention suffer for the rest of their — 

“Earth to Hyunjin!” 

Hyunjin was startled back to reality by a frustrated Jeongin, who was aggressively waving both hands in front of his face. It took Hyunjin a second to realise that his friend had been talking to him the entire time. 

“Sorry,” he muttered, quickly taking a sip of coffee, “What were you saying?” 

“Good to know you were paying attention,” his friend rolled his eyes, “What’s up with you?” 

Hyunjin shook his head, taking another sip and ignoring the burn on his tongue for the sake of the caffeine that he desperately needed entering his system. 

“I’m just tired.” 

Jeongin’s irritated expression morphed into more of a concerned one: “Did you not sleep well?” 

Hyunjin shook his head again: “I spent an excessive amount of time staring at my ceiling, and the next thing I knew, the sun was coming up.” 

“Is everything okay?” 

“Yeah, everything’s fine I just… Never mind,” Hyunjin sighed.

“I’m not gonna “never mind”,” Jeongin framed the phrase with quotation marks, “anything, Hyunjin. Why aren’t you sleeping?” 

“It’s _so_ not a big deal. Felix just said something that made me think.” 

“For a whole night? What could he possibly have said that kept you up all night?” 

Another sigh from Hyunjin. 

"He said Changbin's been talking about me — HEY!” 

Jeongin had thrown a packet of sugar at Hyunjin’s face, prompting him to yell out. 

“You SCARED me!” 

“I SAID IT WASN’T A BIG DEAL!” 

Another packet of sugar hit Hyunjin on the cheek. 

“What’s your _problem_?”

“My problem is that you gave me a heart attack purely because you’re in denial about having a crush on some dude.” 

“I DON’T HAVE A CRU—“

“This is why I said,” Jeongin reached for another sugar packet, “you’re in,” he flung it, Hyunjin barely managing to dodge this time around, _“denial.”_

“I can’t believe you’re joining Felix and Minho on team “anti-Hyunjin”, I do _not_ deserve this!"

“Wait, _Minho_ thinks you’re in denial too? Whoa, you must be more whipped than I thought…”

Just as Hyunjin was about to repeat, very firmly, that he was not whipped for some tiny dude whose first choice of outerwear during a fire alarm is a fucking _pink sweater_, his phone rang. Jeongin raised an eyebrow.

“Saved by the bell,” he mumbled, taking a sip of hot chocolate and ignoring Hyunjin’s eye roll.

“Unknown Number” flashed on the phone screen when Hyunjin slipped it out of his jacket pocket and, although he was confused and frowning, he quickly swiped the green phone icon to the right, saying an uneasy, “Hello?"

“Hey, Hyunjin?” 

Hyunjin felt his heart beating in his throat. For _some_ reason. 

“Uh, yeah. Who is this?” 

“It’s Jisung! We met the other day, the fire alarm?” 

Hyunjin’s heart stopped beating in his throat. Or _whatever_. 

“Yeah, I remember!” 

“I hope you don’t mind, Felix gave me your number.”

“No, not at all! What’s up?” he aggressively waved off Jeongin who was repeatedly mouthing _Who is it?_

Jeongin reached for a sugar packet, but Hyunjin’s glare prompted him to put it back slowly, and simply try to listen in. 

“We’re having a thing at our place Friday, and I was wondering if you’d want to come along? It’s not super big or anything, but we’d love to have you, and Felix already said he’s coming so you’ll have someone you know there."

“Ask if I can come,” Jeongin whispered aggressively, practically lying on the table as he leaned forward to hear the conversation. Hyunjin waved him off again.

“Yeah, sure I’d love to come by,” Jeongin was now pouting at him, and he rolled his eyes, “Would it be okay if I brought a friend along?” 

“Yeah, sure, the more the merrier!” 

“Great, thanks! I’ll see you Friday!” 

“See you then!” 

Hyunjin was about to hang up, when a muffled voice carried through his speaker. 

“There, I asked him. Are you happy now, coward?” 

He motioned over at Jeongin, who was now leaning back in his armchair. He gave him a confused look, but the vigour with which Hyunjin was gesturing at him prompted him to be leaning back over the table with widened eyes within a second. Both of them pressed their ears to the phone.

“What do you mean “am I happy”?” 

Hyunjin recognised the second voice as belonging to a certain pink sweater wearing, aggressive little man. His heart was back in his throat. He told himself it was the adrenaline of listening in on a conversation he wasn’t a part of. 

“You heard me, Mr. Can We Please Invite Felix’s Tall Annoying Beautiful Roommate,” Jisung was speaking again.

“I never said “please”.”

“Yeah, but that’s just your lack of manners, Changbin. The amount of times you “gently reminded” me to ask him does qualify as begging, though."

Hyunjin’s mind was in shambles. Begging? Changbin? _“Beautiful Roommate”? _

“Shut up,” a soft thud was heard, followed by Jisung’s laughter. 

“Don’t be shy about your big fat crush, Binnie. We all have them, and Hyunjin’s not a bad guy to have a crush on.” 

“Shut UP!” 

“You’d make a cute couple, you two, with the height difference and being really bad at pretending you’re not obsessed with each other…"

Hyunjin’s eyes met Jeongin’s and he imagined his mouth was wide open as he hung up the phone. 


	4. The Truth and Good Credit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's all about perspective, isn't it?

“Shut up,” Changbin threw a pillow at his roommate, prompting him to laugh.

“Don’t be shy about your big fat crush, Binnie. We all have them, and Hyunjin’s not a bad guy to have a crush on.” 

Changbin felt his face getting flushed: “Shut UP!” 

“You’d make a cute couple, you two, with the height difference and being really bad at pretending you’re not obsessed with each other. Felix tells me Hyunjin is just as bad as you are.”

“Felix can’t handle his alcohol OR mind his business, it seems,” Changbin snapped back at his friend, who suddenly stopped laughing.

“You don’t get to talk shit about Felix.”

Changbin rolled his eyes: “The guy threw up on me. I can say whatever I want about him.”

He lifted his arm and swiftly caught the pillow Jisung had chucked back at him.

“Also, bold of _you_ to say anything about big fat crushes, you haven’t stopped talking about Felix since you had to leave that night.” 

Jisung’s mouth formed an insulted “o” at his comeback.

“That is _so_ not the same thing!”

Changbin waved off his roommate’s remark.

“HEY! Don’t compare me to yourself! I may have a big fat crush but at least I’m not a big fat _liar_.” 

Changbin pressed his lips into a thin line. 

“You can’t even deny it, you called him _beautiful_.” 

“I dislike the guy, I’m not_ blind_.” 

“Or straight.” 

Changbin stared at Jisung, proceeding to sigh.

“I’m gonna go to my room now, and I will proceed to ignore everything you have to say unless it’s “Pizza’s here!”” Changbin opened his bedroom door.

“We didn’t order pizza.” 

“Well maybe we should,” Changbin slammed his door shut.

***

In the end, Chan orders the pizza, announcing its arrival with a light knock on the door.

“Jisung, leave me alo—“

“It’s not Jisung.” 

Changbin got off his bed, interrupting his busy schedule of staring at the ceiling and contemplating… Well, everything. 

Chan was holding out a pizza box and wearing a sympathetic smile: “Everything okay?” 

Changbin took the pizza and motioned for Chan to come in, closing the door behind him. The two boys sat down on the bed and began to eat, but Chan never took his worried eyes off of Changbin. 

On his third slice of pizza, Changbin couldn’t take it anymore. 

“I’m fine.” 

Chan raised an eyebrow, but proceeded to shrug it off and take another bite. 

“I’m _fine_.”

“I didn’t say anything.” 

Changbin narrowed his eyes: “But you’re _thinking_ it.” 

“I’m sorry, am I not supposed to think?” Chan asked with a laugh.

“I’d prefer it if you didn’t.” 

“Why don’t you teach me how?” 

Changbin pressed his lips into a thin line. Sure, he usually loved Chan coming into his room and their conversations that dragged into early morning. The two of them had practically grown up together, living on the same street and having parents who enjoyed each others’ company just as much as they did. Chan was practically his older brother.

Which meant he knew _exactly_ when he was trying to pull something. 

Changbin sighed, chucking the crust of his pizza slice into the box and intertwining his fingers. 

“What do you want?” 

“The truth and good credit, but the truth will do for now.”

Changbin sighed. Again. 

“Jisung thinks I like this guy because I said he was beautiful, which he is, but just because I can acknowledge someone is attractive doesn’t mean I’m _into_ them, right? But Jisung is just _on_ his _bullshit_ and he won’t leave it alone and it’s really annoying and —“

“Changbin.” 

“Yes?” 

“At the risk of getting killed in my sleep for asking,” Chan began, “and just for some clarity… Do you? Like this guy, I mean.” 

Changbin looks Chan directly in the eye and says no. 

No. Changbin looks Chan directly in the eye and _wants_ to say no. 

But Chan could always tell when Changbin was lying. 

“I don’t know.” 

Chan nodded: “I see. Care to elaborate?” 

Changbin was sick of sighing. 

“We met him during the fire drill. The annoying dude who set it off?” 

“I remember.” 

“Well, I ran into him again.”

“Where?” 

“… His kitchen.”

“Do I want to know?”

“It’s a long story.” 

Chan nodded: “Carry on.” 

“Ever since then, I keep _seeing_ him. In the coffee shop, in the library, across the courtyard between classes… We don’t share any classes, but this guy’s _everywhere_! So of course I’m gonna think about him _now_ and then, when he keeps showing up out of fuckin’ nowhere. That makes sense, right?” Changbin finished. He gnawed on his bottom lip, hoping Chan would say exactly what he needed to hear.

But Chan doesn’t say anything. 

“Right?”

Chan raised an eyebrow.

“Can you answer my question?” 

“Do you want me too?”

_“Clearly.”_

“Okay,” Chan intertwined his fingers now, mirroring Changbin, and looked his friend straight in the eye. 

“I am sure that there are dozens of people you see on a daily basis, probably a lot more regularly than this guy, especially ones that have the same major as you, but you probably couldn’t even pick them out of a lineup.” 

Chan was _not_ saying exactly what Changbin needed to hear. 

“What’s your point?” Changbin doesn’t _mean_ to grit his teeth, practically hissing the question at his friend, who simply smiled and gave a small shrug. 

“My point is that something about this guy is clearly important enough to you for you to actually notice him so often. And if you want my opinion —“

“I don’t, I changed my mind.”

Chan rolled his eyes and continued anyway: “You need to stop lying to yourself and do something about it.”

***

The so-called “gathering” was in full swing, the music making the walls of Changbin’s room shake more than he’d like. To be fair, he’d like them not to shake at all. 

He dragged his pillow over his head, attempting to block out the noise. He knew he’d have to drag himself out and into the living room, but the thought of seeing a certain tall, irritating, _beautiful_, no, just irritating dark haired boy sitting in his favourite beanbag and drinking from the red solo cupshebought (at Jisung’s request) made him feel queasy. 

Changbin heard a banging, his first assumption being that some idiot didn’t see the doorbell. It took him probably too long to realise that someone was banging on his door. 

“CHANGBIN!” 

The fact that he could hear Jisung yell his name over the fabric of his pillow _and_ the obscenely loud party noises outside made him greatly concerned for the wellbeing of his vocal cords. Still, he dragged himself off his bed, flinching slightly at how noisy the party was without the obstacle of his pillow protecting his ears, and opened his door, just a crack. 

“Yes?”

“You’re being an awful host right now, you know?” 

“Host? This is a _you_ problem and it is absolutely not my business,” Changbin attempted to close his door, but Jisung shoved his foot in front of it, effectively stopping him. 

“You agreed to the party.”

Changbin rolled his eyes: “I agreed to the party being at ours. I didn’t say I was gonna _come_ to it.” 

“Let me in.”

“Don’t you have a party to host?”

“Let me in, you bitter old man.”

Changbin opened his door just enough for Jisung to slip into his room, trying to ignore the mess he saw behind him. All he knew about it was that he would have nothing to do with cleaning it up. He closed the door behind his very grumpy looking friend.

“What’s your deal? Why are you holed up in your room when there’s a whole ass party in our living room? You love socialising! You always have things to say and jokes to make! _I’m_ the introvert in the family, and even I’m out there having a good time —“

“Yeah, cause Felix is there.” 

Jisung raised an eyebrow. 

“Is this about Hyunjin? Is it because he didn’t come?” 

“He’s not here?” Changbin felt his heart sink a little. 

Not that he’d ever admit it.

“No, he isn’t. I thought he’d come with Felix, but he didn’t, and it’s nearly 1 a.m. so I’d say the “fashionably late” window closed about an hour ago.”

_Why didn’t he come?_

“Okay, well I don’t care about him not being here. I just don’t feel like socialising tonight.”

_Liar. _

Jisung groaned: “Please at least show your face. Just for a few minutes. Felix is here, and Woojin is too and I’m sure they’d like to be reassured you haven’t died.”

“Can’t you tell the—“

_“Changbin.”_

“Fine. But I hope you’re aware that parties like these are just a distraction from the inevitable death of our planet and us as a race, and that they do nothing to defer either of those things,” Changbin ranted as he slipped out of his sweatpants and pulled on a pair of ripped jeans that had been thrown over his chair. He pulled on a beanie that had been lying on top of his class notes and folded his arms over his chest. 

“Let’s go.”

“No changing your shirt?”

“It’s a black t-shirt. Do you want me to change into a _different_ black t-shirt?” 

Jisung rolled his eyes.

“Forget it, let’s go,” he said, swinging the door open. Changbin tried his best not to cringe at the sudden sensory overload of music he hated, the sight of people he mostly didn’t know and the smell of cigarettes and alcohol that hit him in the face. 

Through the crowd that was way bigger than Changbin had expected it to be, he immediately spotted Chan, standing next to Woojin who was sitting on the counter. His hand is on his boyfriend’s thigh and they looked just disgustingly, beautifully in love. 

_Maybe that’s a nice thing to have._

Changbin shook the thought from his head and gave them a wave, about to go over and say hi before feeling a tap on his shoulder. He turned around, finding himself face to face with a grinning Felix, whose other hand was intertwined with Jisung’s. Another boy was standing behind them, seemingly distracted, a drink resting in his hand. 

“Hey Binnie,” Changbin wasn’t aware they were on a nickname basis, but he didn’t mind. He liked Felix, when he wasn’t throwing up on him, and he loved seeing Jisung as flustered and happy as the boy made him. 

“Hey Felix,” he greeted him back, giving him a small smile and starting to feel a little less regretful about leaving his room. The company wasn’t bad, after all. 

“Oh, this is Minho,” the distracted boy behind him snapped out of his daze and gave Changbin a wave and a friendly nod, “He teaches one of the dance classes at the studio. Minho, this is Changbin.” 

Minho’s eyes widened: “So,_ you’re_ Changbin. Nice to finally meet you.” 

Changbin frowned, confused.

“What do you mean fina—“

“There he is!” 

Felix’s exclamation startled Changbin, prompting him to turn around and look at the front door. 

“Look, Jeongin came too,” Felix’s voice faded away into the background as Changbin saw the door close behind two dark haired boys, one of them wrapping an arm around the other’s waist to stop his tipsy self from falling over. He was laughing, tripping over his feet, looking around in a drunken daze. 

Glowing. 

Tall, annoying, beautiful Hyunjin had arrived. He was here and he was gleaming and Changbin felt his heart beating in the back of his throat.

Hyunjin's eyes found his in the smoke. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for all the lovely support on this work! I appreciate it so much and I hope you continue to enjoy it as it goes on! xo


	5. Apartment 325

“It’s liquid courage.”

“Why do you need liquid courage?”

“Parties make me nervous.”

Hyunjin punctuated his answer by taking the shot of vodka Jeongin had handed him, immediately grimacing at the taste. 

“Parties or the _people_ that may be found at those parties,” Hyunjin ignored Jeongin’s raised eyebrow and refilled his shot glass. 

“You’re an ass,” he retorted before throwing his head back once again, scrunching his face up in disgust.

“And you’re an idiot,” Jeongin stated, wrestling the bottle of clear liquid out of Hyunjin’s hands, “and you can’t hold your alcohol, so you need to stop now.” 

“I resent that accusation.” 

“Yeah, we’ll see about that when it kicks in in a few minutes.” 

Hyunjin rolled his eyes. The only reason he was going to this thing in the first place was Jeongin and his desperate need to socialise.

There was absolutely no other reason. Not even one. 

A ding sounded from his phone, followed by two more, and Hyunjin spared a glance at the lit up screen.

_**Felix Felicis:** Are you coming or not??? _

_**Felix Felicis:** Are you dead???_

_**Felix Felicis:** I haven’t heard from you in several hours so if you don’t respond to these texts, I will call the police and report u as a missing person _

“Aren’t you gonna answer him?” Jeongin asked, looking at the messages pile up on Hyunjin’s home screen. 

“Absolutely not. He can mind his damn business.” 

Jeongin raised an eyebrow, taking his attention off the bottle of vodka long enough for Hyunjin to snatch it back. He let out a gasp, but Hyunjin raised his palm in response. 

“Hear me out. One more shot, and then we can go.” 

Jeongin narrowed his eyes: “I’ll allow it.” 

Hyunjin filled the shot glass a final time, trying to push back the overwhelming flurry of thoughts wreaking havoc in his brain. 

Not a single one had anything to do with a certain aggressive short man who had said several things Hyunjin was definitely not supposed to hear. 

No, all of the thoughts were driven by sheer nerves of showing up to a party that wasn’t hosted by or filled with his friends, and maybe a slight fear of his low alcohol tolerance making him make a fool of himself. 

_So maybe he should stop drinking now. _

Hyunjin handed the bottle back to Jeongin, but took the shot anyway, shaking his head as he smacked the glass down. 

“Let’s go.” 

*****

Jeongin was right: Hyunjin couldn’t handle his alcohol. 

He could barely see straight as he stumbled into the elevator, Jeongin’s arm wrapped around his waist to stop him from falling over. Which he definitely would _not_ do if Jeongin let go. 

“You should have stopped before that last shot,” Jeongin grumbled into his ear.

“Blah blah blah, that’s what I just heard,” Hyunjin slurred in response, and Jeongin loosened his grip and made him stagger, just to teach him a lesson. Hyunjin’s eyes widened in a panic as he reached for Jeongin’s shoulders, his fall intercepted by his very irritated looking friend. 

“I can’t believe I’m stuck babysitting your drunk ass because you insisted on drinking way more than you can handle to cope with your undying love for Changbin,” Jeongin mumbled under his breath, ignoring the drunken death stare Hyunjin gave him in response. 

“I don’t have an undying love for Changbin,” Hyunjin’s sentence sounded like it was in its own language at this point, “I don’t have _any_ kind of love for Changbin. Nah uh. No love for little gnome men who look cute in pink sweaters and have sexy broad backs and —“

“Do you _hear_ yourself?” 

Hyunjin pondered for a second before shaking his head. Jeongin rolled his eyes before finally noticing the number of the apartment they’d been looking for.

“325. This is it. You ready?” 

“Why wouldn’t I be? I was born ready, I am made to party and —“

“Okay, shut up,” Jeongin laughed, prompting Hyunjin to chuckle uncontrollably in response as he pushed the door open. 

The music they could hardly hear from the hallway was now overwhelmingly loud, combined with the chatter of all the partygoers already inside and the smell of cigarette smoke. Hyunjin’s grip tightened around Jeongin’s waist, his laughter barely audible over the music. His mouth was still wide open and Jeongin felt a surge of love for his best friend and how absolutely ridiculous he is, when he felt him stop in his tracks, staring ahead. 

Jeongin followed his gaze and immediately found himself grinning knowingly, practically dragging Hyunjin forward, grateful that his friend’s drunken state made him incapable of resisting.

Although he’d never met or seen the infamous Changbin, Jeongin spotted him immediately, partly because of Hyunjin’s unreasonably vivid descriptions, and partly because he was staring at Hyunjin like a deer caught in the headlights.

Like a very _infatuated_ deer caught in the headlights. 

“Jeongin! Hyunjin! You guys came!” Felix greeted them cheerfully, hugging Jeongin, who hugged him back while attempting to keep a hold on Hyunjin and failing miserably. He watched helplessly as Hyunjin made his way to Changbin, stumbling slightly with every other step. 

Hyunjin hadn’t seen Changbin in a while. Well no, he’d _seen_ him, but not _really _seen him. He’d seen him in passing. He’d looked at him in passing. His eyes lingered on him for a second too long in passing. He— 

“Hello.” 

It took Hyunjin a moment to realise that he was the one that had spoken, the puzzled look on Changbin’s face enough of a hint that the greeting hadn’t only been said inside his head. 

“Hi?” 

“Are you asking me hi, or are you telling me hi?” 

There was a sober part of Hyunjin’s brain, a very small one, buried in the back behind the shots he’d lost count of, that was currently screaming at him and calling him a fucking idiot, that was telling him to shut his mouth and hydrate and go to bed. 

“I’m just uh… Saying hi?” 

Unfortunately, sober Hyunjin wasn’t loud enough.

“Well, at least it’s not a death threat this time.” 

Although his vision was by no means clear, the way Changbin rolled his eyes was beyond obvious to Hyunjin. He felt himself frown. 

“You’re really annoying, you know. I try to make eggs for breakfast and I try to be nice and say hi but you’re just mean and you brush me off. Pretty people think they can have everything, but you can’t. I should just leave,” Hyunjin attempted to angrily turn on his heel, immediately beginning to fall backwards. 

The next thing he knew, a pair of arms was wrapped around his torso, his legs clumsily trying to find balance. He felt a chair get shoved under him and complacently leant back before realising the chair’s back was on his right instead of behind him. Yet somehow he didn’t fall right off. 

Hyunjin looked upwards, finding Changbin’s face looking down at him as his arms rested on either side of Hyunjin’s shoulders, one on the back of the chair and one on the table next to him, in an attempt to keep him sitting up. 

Their eyes met and Hyunjin felt his mouth stretch into a dumb grin. 

“Your arms,” Hyunjin slurred, ignoring the alarm bells going off in the back of his head, “are so defined they should be in the dictionary.” 

Changbin laughed. _Really_ laughed, with his whole body, his entire chest shaking behind Hyunjin’s head. It sounded like waffles tasted and Hyunjin never wanted it to stop. 

“You’re drunk.” 

“You’re pretty.” 

“You’re annoying.” 

“You’re a grumpy dick.” 

Changbin shook his head, but Hyunjin felt the chuckles in his chest. 

“You should call me sometime,” sober Hyunjin was screaming, but drunk Hyunjin simply shushed him, digging into his bucket of popcorn.

“Why? So you can tell me to get out of my own kitchen?” 

Now Hyunjin was laughing, pretending he didn’t notice the way Changbin moved a strand of hair out of his eye. But he noticed, and now he was scared his heart might jump out of his chest and do a breakdance on the table. Maybe the alcohol messing with his head had something to do with the invention of that image in his head. 

“No, so I can tell you you’re pretty.”

“You can tell me that right now.”

“I did, and you called me annoying,” Hyunjin pouted.

“Because you _are_ annoying. Flattery won’t change that,” Changbin was smirking down at him. 

“Do you think _I’m_ pretty?” 

Changbin rolled his eyes. It made Hyunjin smile. 

“Yes, I think you’re pretty. Are you gonna shut up now? You look like you’re about to pass out.” 

Hyunjin waved a hand aimlessly in the air and dragged out his words, “I’m _fiiiiiiiinnnnneeee_.”

“Give me your phone.” 

Hyunjin’s heart leaped: “Are you gonna call me?” 

Changbin laughed again, “How am I gonna call you from _your_ phone, stupid? Just give it to me.”

Hyunjin stuck out his bottom lip, clumsily dragging his phone out of his pocket, unlocking it and handing it to Changbin. He took it, typing something into it and handing it back. 

Hyunjin looked at the open “add contact” form, and saw a number sitting under the name “Seo Changbin”.

“That’s not right,” he shook his head, erasing the name and retyping it as "Changbinnieeeeee <3333” before pressing the “Save” button.

“For fuck’s sake,” Changbin said through laughter, taking a hold of Hyunjin’s arm as he stood up and immediately stumbled. 

“Well, now that I have what I came here for, I shall be going,” Hyunjin declared, his legs tangling with each other. 

“Maybe you need to learn to walk first, Bambi,” Changbin took Hyunjin’s arm and wrapped it around his neck, putting one of his around the taller boy’s waist. 

“Wow, Mr. Seo, shouldn’t you buy me dinner first?” 

“Shut up, string bean.” 

“Changbin.” 

Changbin looked up at Hyunjin questioningly, “Hyunjin?” 

Hyunjin looked at Changbin’s wide brown eyes, noticed the way his arm felt around his waist and how much he _liked_ it, how his hair framed his face so perfectly, how he smelled of a cologne Hyunjin didn’t recognise, but very much enjoyed. Everything got overwhelming and Hyunjin felt dizzy but in a really good way. He would vow in front of whatever god was out there and a jury of his peers that what he was about to do was the only right course of action and then he leaned down and he kissed Changbin, and suddenly he was a whole different kind of drunk. 

And then everything went black. 

*****

There is a loud knock on Hyunjin's door. 

It’s probably not as loud as it seems, but it honestly feel like someone has taken a sledgehammer to Hyunjin’s head. Sure, it may have something to do with the excessive amount of alcohol he drank last night, but that’s not the point. It _seems_ loud. 

The door opens, and Jeongin walks in with a bottle of water and a box of aspirin. 

“I want you to know you’re a good friend, possibly the best friend anyone could ever have,” Hyunjin found himself saying as he reached for the items in Jeongin’s hands, knowing he was close to no longer feeling like an elephant was taking a nap on his head. 

“How’re you feeling?” 

“It would be easier to die than to live feeling like I feel right now.”

Jeongin rolled his eyes, as Hyunjin placed an aspirin on his tongue and proceeded to chug water out of the bottle: “Leave it to you to be dramatic.” 

It took Hyunjin a few gulps to put the bottle of water down, emptied and bent in several places, before he responded. 

“You don’t _feel_ the way that I do.”

Another eye roll from Jeongin, who had now kicked his shoes off and made himself comfortable on the bed.

“That’s because I didn’t drown my internal organs in vodka last night.” 

“You should’ve left your shoes at the entrance door,” Hyunjin said pointedly.

“You should’ve drank less.” 

Hyunjin narrowed his eyes. 

“Do you wanna hear the updates from last night now or later?” 

Hyunjin felt his stomach flip. He wanted to say he doesn’t want to hear anything at all, the idea of finding out he did something stupid making him feel even sicker than he already did. 

“Now.” 

Jeongin nodded: “Well, luckily, there isn’t that much to tell. You kind of… Got there, hit on Changbin and then passed out and had to be carried back here.”

“Excuse me, I got there and did what now?”

Jeongin laughed at Hyunjin’s widened eyes and opened mouth, nudging his chin upwards to close it. 

“You sound surprised.”

“I _am_ surprised?” 

“You shouldn’t be. Everyone and their mother knows you two are madly in love with each o—“ 

“Shut up and tell me what happened.” 

“Do you want me to shut up or tell you what happened?” 

Hyunjin narrowed his eyes and pressed his lips into a thin line. 

“Tell me.” 

Jeongin shook his head. 

“Honestly? I’m not really sure. I was saying hello to Felix and you got away from me and then a whole bunch of things went down.”

“What _things_?” Hyunjin rushed the two words out in a panic, that luckily went unnoticed by his friend, who simply continued the story.

“I don’t know, one minute you’re saying you can’t stand him, and the next minute you’re complimenting his biceps.”

“I feel like you’ve skipped a few minutes there.”

“Oh, I didn’t. _You_ did.” 

Hyunjin scrunched up his face, rubbing his temples with the tips of his fingers. 

“Any other insane things I did while under the influence that I should know about before showing my face in public again?” 

Jeongin took a breath. Hyunjin had a heart attack. 

Well, not _really_, but that’s what it felt like.

“Well, you finally got Changbin’s phone number.” 

Hyunjin gulped.

“There’s more.” 

Hyunjin grimaced.

“You kissed him.”

Hyunjin gasped. 

“I did _what_?!"

At that moment, Hyunjin’s phone rang, the sound echoing off the walls of the room and making his head hurt even more than it already did. It takes him a moment to register the fact that whoever’s calling expects him to pick up, and not simply wait for the head-splitting noise to disappear. He fumbled for his phone among the covers, his eyes widening once he had it in his hand and took a look at the screen. 

_Changbinnieeeeee <3333 _

_is calling ..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you're all enjoying the shenanigans in this so far!! v sorry about late updates, but life tends to get in the way of me writing as much as I want to :( I also have like 3 billion wips + the giant project I planned out n probably very much played myself by doing, so that definitely doesn't help, but I hope you enjoy this when I do update anyway! remember to stay hydrated, healthy and take care of yourselves! mwah xo


End file.
